Thursday, August 29, 2013

Wilson had another strong game on Wednesday, its been
announced that he’s heading to the Arizona Fall League in September, because the
Jays need to figure out if they need to protect Wilson from the Rule 5 draft
this upcoming season. It’s a borderline
play, because he looked like a complete bust coming into the year, but has
really emerged with a respectable
performance in Double A at just 23 years old.

Dalton
Pompey – Lansing (Low Single A)

3/5 – 1 HR, 2 2B,

Coming off a 2 home run game yesterday, Pompey followed it
up with another multi-extra base hit game, with yet another home run. He tied his career high in home runs with 5,
and also has crushed his career high with 37 steals. The Canadian is an exciting guy to watch.

Matt
Dean
– Bluefield (High Rookie)

2/4 – 1 3B, 1 SB, 1 K

In Matt Dean’s first 24 games of the season he hit a pitiful
.238/.312/.333, with just 1 HR. In the
following 35 games he’s hit .402/.433/.623, and has redeemed the Jays faith in
him for giving him a massively overslot contract in 2011.

Rowdy
Tellez – GCL (Low Rookie)

2/3 – 2 BB

Rowdy Tellez has just the three best game of his career the
past three days. Monday he hit his first
home run, Tuesday he was 3/3 with a triple, and Wednesday he had 2 walks and 2
hits. Considering he came into Monday
hitting .185/.276/.250, this is just the spark you want to see.

Jacob
Brentz – GCL (Low Rookie)

1 IP – 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

The sushi-raw Brentz had the first clean inning of his
career. For a player who is converting
to pitching full time, you have to take your time in his development, so even
an achievement as small as this is a huge positive.

The Bad

Clinton
Hollon – Bluefield (High Rookie)

1 IP – 2 H, 3 R (2 Earned), 1 BB, 0 K

The Jays 2nd round pick hasn’t pitched quite as
well since getting promoted to the Bluefield roster. Still, even with these negative results,
unless we hear news of Hollon’s elbow flaring up, I’m not going to worry too
much.

The Other

Santiago
Nessy – Lansing (Low Single A)

1/5 -

Despite just going 1 for 5, the notable part of Wednesday’s
game is that Nessy was back on the field in Lansing after sitting out 3
games. While I’d been worried that this
hiatus was due to his lingering concussion issues, it turns out it was because
he hadn’t run out a ground ball over the weekend. That lack of effort is certainly not a good
thing, however considering that I’d feared the issue was concussion related, I’ll
view this as a positive.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Dean got right back on track Monday, after going 1-6 on the weekend, with 4 Ks. A definite surprise bright-spot of late. He appears to have taken the move to 1st base in stride. Yesterday's game raised his slash line to .332/.383/.495. Expect Dean to raise in Jays top prospect lists in the near future.

Rowdy Tellez (GCL, low rookie)
3/3 - 1 3B

A BlueJaysPlus favourite, he appears to have found his stroke in the GCL, going 3-3 a day after hitting his first professional home run. Rowdy, a larger guy, is not particularly quick, but from what I have heard, the triple was no fluke, and the footspeed isn't as horrendous as one may think.

Franklin Barreto (Bluefield, high rookie)
1/3 - 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K

The struggling Barreto had a nice night, and the double was certainly a good sign. The walk is also something Barreto is rather familiar with, showing good patience in the GCL, with a .360 OBP. Not all that many Jays fans have heard of Barreto, but you will. Expect Barreto to be a top 5 Jays prospect in the very near future. He is just that right now, in my opinion.

The Bad

Ricky Romero (Buffalo, AAA)
6.1 IP - 5 H, 5 R (4 ER), 6 BB, 5 K

Romero struggled again with the Bisons last night. It seems like there's a new issue every time he takes the mound, and last night, it was his command, walking 6 batters in 6.1 innings. I suppose there's not much else to say about Ricky, you just have to wait things out and hope for the best.

Matt Boyd
2 IP - 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K

The 2013 6th rounder struggled for Dunedin last night, in a very short outing. It wasn't horrendous, but it was bad enough be put in "the bad" for the roundup. Boyd, out of Oregon State, is a tall lefty. His fastball sits around 88-89, with an inconsistent changeup. His best pitch is probably his curveball, which sits around 71-75 MPH with some sharp bite to it. It's worth noting that Boyd is already 22, so he's more advanced in development than most of the Jays 2013 draftees. Boyd could be a Buffalo Bison by the end of 2014.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

This is me(Gideon) writing a short intro about how the Jays suck and should continue to lose games so they get a good draft pick for next year. Ok, now I can get to the game preview. I always need to have that intro.

Gibby/AA quotes via the great beat reporters that cover this team(and the not so great ones)

Alex Anthopolous told the media that manager John Gibbons is coming back next year. I trust him, but he has lied before... Let's hope he's telling the truth. #GibbyTheBest

Gibby said that Ryan Goins will continue to see a lot of playing time down the stretch. Good.

AA talked about pitchers, saying that a decision on Josh Johnson's compensation status will come after the season. That means there is no way anybody is paying Josh Johnson $14 Million. Also speculated that Brandon Morrow's injury has to do with his cutter usage.

When talking about September call ups, Alex said that just because Marcus Stroman and Sean Nolin are playing in the AFL, doesn't mean they are out of the running for a call up.

Speaking of the AFL, rosters were announced today, and 7 Jays will be heading out there this fall(subject to change)...The players will be:

Stilson continues to mow batters down. He has the stuff to be a quality 7th
or 8th inning guy, and I don’t think it will be long before we get a
chance to see him, because I expect him to get a September call up.

Blake
Gailen – Buffalo (Triple A)

2/5 – 1 HR, 1 SB, 1 K

Due to the Blue Jays calling up the entire Bisons outfield
over the past couple weeks they signed the 28 year old Gailen out of the independent
leagues. In his 3 games he’s looked good,
hitting .412/.412/.667. Since he’s 28,
he’s almost certainly a nothing, but its cool to see him get a combo meal at
the AAA level.

Dalton
Pompey – Lansing (High Single A)

3/4 – 2 HR, 2 BB, 1 K

The speedy outfielder from Mississauga hasn’t been playing
especially well lately, hitting just .203/.354/.219 in the month of August, but
boy did he bounce back on Monday with a killer game. Prior to Monday, he’d only hit 9 HRs in his
200 minor league games, but he hit TWO on Monday alone. He’s a fun player, with a good deal of
potential.

Emilio
Guerrero – Lansing (High Single A)

3/6 – 1 2B, 1 HR

Guerrero, the young 20 year old shortstop in Lansing, has
really jumped up onto my radar the past month.
He’s gone from a guy just barely holding his own at a young age at a full
season league, into a full-fledged beast hitting .385/.421/.550 in the month of
August. The 6’4 shortstop hit his 8th
home run of the year, showing that there is certainly power in that bat of his.

Rowdy
Tellez – GCL (Low Rookie)

2/5 – 1 HR

Hot Rod Tellez finally hit his first home run. The late round draft pick who the Jays paid
800k this last June, has wowed some scouts with his displays in batting
practice, but none of that has translated to the game. Lets hope this HR, is the first of many more
to come.

The Bad

Alberto
Tirado – Bluefield (High Rookie)

3 IP – 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 1 K

This is hardly a disaster start for Tirado, but it’s the worst
that the Jays had going today. He did
tie his career high in walks, and tied a career low with just one
strikeout. Despite that he only gave up
two hits, and I still have tonnes of hope for him in the future.

The Other

Santiago
Nessy – Lansing (High Single A)

Didn’t Play

Nessy hasn’t played in the past 3 games. I’ve reached out to the PR representative from
the Lansing organization but have yet to hear anything back. I’m worrying that perhaps the concussion
issues that plagued him earlier in the season have flared back up. I hope that’s not the case, but I’m
worried it is.

Monday, August 26, 2013

The 3/12 doesn't look to good, but the power showed with the double and homer is nice to see from somebody who doesn't possess all that much of it. Kenny obviously has a ton of speed, and 2 stolen bases over the weekend is great to see. He might not be more than organizational depth at this point, but he's only 23, so you never know what he might turn into with his speed.

Deck
McGuire – New Hampshire (Double A)

7 IP – 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K

No hitter through 6

Just when it seemed like McGuire wouldn't be protected by the Jays this off-season from the Rule 5 Draft, he has put together a nice month of August making everybody second guess themselves. If he can continue to build on his recent performance in what is likely going to be his final start of 2013 this week, he just might get his contract purchased. The scouts still aren't in love with him, but Mort said on BP today that he'd be interesting out of the bullpen, so maybe the Jays try that next year.

Emilio
Guerrero – Lansing (Low Single A)

1/6 - 3 BB, 1 K, 1 CS

***Two
Games***

Guerrero showed some nice discipline over the weekend drawing 3 walks to only 1 strikeout, but other than that, not much to write about here.

L.B.
Dantzler – Vancouver (Short Season Single A)

3/7 – 2 2B, 1 K, 1 CS

***Two
Games***

Dantzler continues to rip apart pitching in Vancouver, and although I know nothing about this 14th round 2013 draftee, he has gotten himself off to a great start,and I'm sure the organization will reward him with full season ball come 2014. Oh, and by the way, I didn't know who this guy was either until I wrote this paragraph.

Mitch
Nay
– Bluefield (Low Rookie)

5/9 – 1 Error

***Two
Games***

One of the backbone's of Bluefield's lineup had himself an incredible weekend at the plate, showing once again why he was picked so high last year.

Daniel
Norris – Lansing (Low Single A)

4 IP – 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K

Another start, more domination for the red hot Norris. He has been fantastic since mid-May when he started throwing pitches that weren't fastballs, which is what the club made him do in April. Daniel has skyrocketed back up the prospect lists with the year he's had, and there's no better story in the Jays system right now than this young gun.

Matthew
Smoral – GCL (Low Rookie)

4 IP – 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K

Best start as a professional, NO WALKS!!! This is so good to see because when Smoral was drafted he was such a risk pick coming from back from injury, and the rough start he had gotten off to this season was scary, but to see him nail a start like he just did, that's awesome. Now 2 good starts in a row for Smoral, whom the sky is the limit for.

The Bad

Kyle
Drabek – Buffalo (Triple A)

3.1 IP – 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Drabek had his worst start of his season on Sunday, giving
up as many hits as he had in his previous 4 starts. Despite having this minor setback, he still
only walked 1 batter, and that’s the key thing to look at, because of Drabek’s
struggles in that regard during his time in the majors.

Aaron
Sanchez – Dunedin (High Single A)

2.2 IP – 5 H, 6 R (3 Earned), 4 BB, 3 K

After a strong bounce back start after struggling with
blisters, he had potentially the worst start of his season. He struggled with his control (which could be
an indication that the blisters were still an issue), and while 3 of his runs
were unearned that was only because of a single error. For the player who is the Jays top prospect,
I still have major question marks about him going into next season.

Dawel
Lugo
– Vancouver (Short Season Single A)

2/8 – 1 2B, 3 Errors, 1 K

***Two
Games***

Lugo has really struggled since his promotion to
Vancouver. He’s still yet to draw a
walk, and has just hit 3 extra base hits (one of them on the weekend). The biggest issue has been his deficiencies
at shortstop. He’s now committed 6
errors in just 10 games, and given the depth the team has at that position I
suspect this next week could be the last time he sees at shortstop.

Matt
Dean
– Bluefield (Low Rookie)

1/6 – 4 K, 1 HBP

***Two
Games***

Coming off an 11 game hitting streak (in which he hit
.410/.452/.662) he didn’t have a great weekend with 4 strikeouts. Considering how well he’s been hitting of
late, this isn’t anything to worry about.

Jairo
Labourt – Bluefield (High Rookie)

4.2 IP – 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K

In the first 10 starts of his season, Labourt only gave up
more than 4 hits once. In his last two
starts he’s given up a combined 12 hits.
I’m thinking that he’s probably tiring down the stretch a little bit,
and given how great his season has been (1.92 ERA, 21.0 K%, & 6.5 BB%), its
not something I’m stressing about.

Remember that time the Jays could have been the 5th worst team in baseball, but then they decided to mount a comeback in the 9th inning? Yeah, it was yesterday. Let's hope the Jays play just as solid as a game tonight as they did yesterday, but this time, come out on the losing end of the thing. So, game preview. Let's do it.

After a week without a podcast (my apologies), Chris and I are back this week.

In this week's show we discuss how crappy the team is, and how we're heading for a top 5 pick, a bunch of injury updates and roster moves, then spend a good deal of time breaking down the Free Agent pitching market.

Then after that we bring in Drunk Jays Fans Andrew Stoeten to discuss John Farrell's comments about the Jays problems developing players.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

With a loss today and a Brewers win, the Blue Jays could move down to 5th worst record in Major League Baseball, which would(if the season ended today) land them the 5th pick in next year's draft. Being swept by the Astros is embarrassing, but 2 protected picks is amazing, so please Blue Jays, keep on playing horribly and lose out the remaining games on the schedule. Thanks.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Jimenez has impressed early into his AAA debut. He’s carried over his hitting streak from AA
into a modest 6 gamer, and has also thrown out 3 of the 9 stolen base attempts,
which isn’t a great rate for someone with an arm the caliber of his, but still
shows some promise.

John
Stilson – Buffalo (Triple A)

1 IP – 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

Stilson has really turned his season around the past
month. While his ERA and K% have stayed
relatively consistent, his BB% has dropped from 11.2 all the way down to
3.3. If he has corrected his shaky
command, that’s the last hurdle he’ll need to get over before earning a
promotion to the big leagues. With news
that Brad Lincoln was demoted after today’s game, I could easily see Stilson
being the one promoted to fill that gap.(Editors Note: This didn't happen. It might soon, though.)

Dwight
Smith Jr. – Lansing (Low Single A)

3/5 – 1 2B

Yet another strong game from Dwight Smith. His 7th multi-hit game in the month
of August, which has powered him to a .302/.375/.430 slash line during that
period. Hopefully Smith can salvage what
looks to be a very weak draft class in 2011.

Chase
DeJong – Bluefield (High Rookie)

4 IP – 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K

Chase DeJong had the best start of his professional career Friday
night, striking out 2 more than his previous career high. In his past 7 starts, he’s struck out 42
batters, and walked only 5, a very impressive achievement for a pitcher who was
drafted out of high school only one year ago.

Miguel
Castro – GCL (Low Rookie)

7 IP – 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K

Amazingly, DeJong’s 9 strikeout performance wasn’t the best
by a Jays prospect last night. In just
his 3rd start on American soil, Castro went 7 full innings, and didn’t
walk a single batter. Even though he did
have excellent control, his command was fairly shaky, which led to him being up
in the zone. Based on a live report from
Jared McDonald (@Jared_McDonald on Twitter) he got lucky with a bunch of his 9 fly ball
outs, since they were very deep. While
that is mildly concerning, its still a hugely positive early start for a young
Dominican starter.

The Bad

Santiago
Nessy – Lansing (Low Single A)

0/5 – 2 K, 0/1 throwing out runners

Nessy’s season has largely been derailed after sustaining a
concussion in the month of April.
However, in the month of August that has turned things around. During that month he’s hit
.315/.345/.407. Friday wasn’t a good
example of that though.

Franklin
Barreto – Bluefield (High Rookie)

0/4 – 2 K

Barreto started his career in Bluefield going 5 for 11, but
since then he’s not had quite the same success going 1 for 18. This is just a 5 game blip, and considering
that he’s just 17 years old its definitely not something to get worried about.

Friday, August 23, 2013

This is almost exactly Stroman’s typical stat line from his
season at AA. Coming into this start he
was averaging 5.2 IP, 6.5 Ks, 1.3 BB, 5 Hits, & .75 HR, he had a couple
extra strikeouts, but aside from that, steady as she goes.

Emilio
Guerrero – Lansing (High Single A)

3/4 – 1 SB

Guerrero continues to absolutely rake. The light has gone on for the 20 year old in
the month of August hitting .369/.396/.536, and is setting himself up to
succeed next year at the next level.

L.B.
Dantzler – Vancouver (Short Season Single A)

1/4 – 1 HR, 2 K

Dantzler hit his Northwest League leading 9th
home run on Thursday night. Even though
he is 22 years old, and seemingly doesn’t have much upside, having a guy
hitting .318/.403/.523 at any level is somewhat pleasing.

Dawel
Lugo
– Vancouver (Short Season Single A)

2/4 – 2 2B, 1 K

In his first 6 games in Vancouver he had hit .241/.241/.241,
which means he hadn’t drawn a walk, nor had he gotten an extra base hit. He still hasn’t drawn a walk, but he remedied
that extra base hit issue ripping two doubles Thursday night. Still isn’t the start you’d like to see for a
player debuting at a new level, but considering he’s just 18 any sign is a
positive one.

The Bad

Ricky
Romero – Buffalo (Triple A)

5.1 IP – 9 H, 5 R//4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR

Romero stinks. He
cant even get AAA batters out on a regular basis, and I hate that by doing this
article daily I get a constant reminder of that every 5 days. Ugh.

Franklin
Barreto – Bluefield (High Rookie)

0/4 – 2 K, 1 Error

A poor day at the plate is one thing, but committing your 3rd
error at shortstop in just 6 games is the most concerning aspect. While I have zero doubt that Barreto will
need to move off shortstop long term, leaving him there is worthwhile,
because he’ll get more reps, and perhaps allow him to stay at 2nd
base rather than moving to the outfield.

Richard
Urena – GCL (Low Rookie)

0/5 – 2 K, 1 Error

One day after an exciting debut in the GCL, Urena was pretty
crappy. 2 strikeouts, and an error for
his second consecutive day. That being
said, given that Dunedin was rained out for 3 straight days, I have to assume
that the field conditions were relatively poor.
I’m not panicking based on the 2 errors, especially based on the
reputation he’s coming to America with.

The OtherA.J. Jimenez - Buffalo (Triple A)A.J didn't play last night in Buffalo, which is only strange because it was the game after a day off.It might just be some end of the season soreness, but an actual injury is possible. Whatever the case may be, we'll keep an eye on it via twitter. Hopefully it's nothing serious.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

The Jays are trying to get swept today as they face the Yankees for the 4th and final game of this series. Toronto is now only 15.5 games in front of Houston for last in Major League Baseball, currently sitting 11th worst in baseball. So, yeah, let's hope for some well played baseball and a whole lot of losses!

Roster Moves

Ryan Goins was called up this morning from AAA Buffalo. This spot was made available because Maicer Izturis was placed on the 15-day DL.

It’s a very light day in the world of Jays minor leaguers,
because Bluefield & Buffalo had the day off, and Dunedin’s double header
was rained out after 1 inning.So today’s
edition of the Roundup is very light.

The Good

Richard
Urena – GCL (Low Rookie)

3/5 – 1 2B, 1 Error

I’d suspected that Urena would be called up, because he’d
been sitting out the past few games in the DSL. In his stateside debut he picked up right where he left off, with a
multihit game, including an extra base hit.
Also, while he made an error in the field, the reports I saw were that
he made a couple of very spectacular plays, which his defensive reputation
would lead you to believe.

Marcus
Walden – New Hampshire (Double A)

7.2 IP – 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HBP, 11 Ground Ball Outs

On most days I doubt that Walden would’ve cracked the “good”
side of the Roundup, but with a lessened pool of players he gets featured. Even though Walden gave up 3 runs, he did
what he does best, and generated a truck load of ground balls. His strikeout rate of 12.5% isn’t going to
get him to the majors, but its quite possible that his GB rate near 60% just
might.

The Bad

Luis
Perez – Dunedin (High Single A)

1 IP – 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP

Perez had a very short outing, because Dunedin was rained
out after just 1 inning. That one inning
was about as poor as one can be without giving up a run. He walked the first batter of the game, he
hit the next batter, then after inducing a double play, the third out of the
inning came when the runner was thrown out at home after a wild pitch.

Perez come back from Tommy John surgery has been a lot rockier
than the rehab of Hutchison and Drabek, and we’ll have to see how it continues.

Chris Hawkins –
Lansing (Low Single A)

0/3 – 2 K

This time 2 years ago, Chris Hawkins was one of the top
prospects in the Blue Jays system. Going
into the 2012 season he was the Jays #11 ranked prospect by Kevin Goldstein,
and the #8 by Jonathan Mayo. At this
point however, all that optimism is basically gone. In 2012 he struggled in his debut in Lansing,
hitting just .269/.331/.332. This year
however, while repeating at the Low A level, not only has he not advanced, but
he’s actively taken a step back hitting just .224/.277/.313.

Basically every element of his game has gone backwards this
season. He’s walking less, he’s striking
out more, he’s stealing less bases and he’s also gone from right field to left
field. Write him off, Hawkins is done as
a prospect.

The Other

Ryan Goins - Buffalo (Triple A)

Did Not Play

While Buffalo didnt play, Wednesday was probably the best day of his baseballing life, since he's on his way to Toronto to replace the injured Maicer Izturis. While I'm mildly excited to see if Goins can capably fill a utility role with the big club next year, it might not be the best timing, because he's mired the worst slump of his career. Not only has he not had a hit in 5 games, but in the month of August in total he's hitting just .169/.234/.168. Perhaps not the best timing, but I'd much rather give him a chance to play than Munenori Kawasaki.

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